As I write this, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has just announced, during a televised press conference, his decision not to run in the coming elections and to leave politics.

There is jubilation in Gaza, as Hamas is selling the idea that Israel’s defense minister admitted defeat.

And there is jubilation on the right side of the Israeli political spectrum, with Minister Yuli Edelstein, a resident of Neve Daniel in Gush Etzion, expressing his joy at the departure of a man who recently suggested a unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria.

My daughter Sara and her husband, and all the residents of Bat Ayin Bet, certainly breathed a sigh of relief. Her house was destroyed one night during Netanyahu’s building freeze. (Her husband, a builder, put up two houses in its place.)

With this as a preface, let us analyze the outcome of the eight-day military campaign dubbed “Pillar of a Cloud,” based on a biblical image but mistranslated into English as “Pillar of Defense.”

We must ask: How did Pillar of a Cloud end up a very cloudy pillar?

The Hamas terrorists have been given credibility by achieving a cease-fire with Israel, through the efforts of the new president of Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate and anti Israel activist Mohamed Morsi.

In other words, Hamas is now a recognized political entity – one that will never rest until Israel is erased from the map. We have turned them into a pillar – a cloudy pillar, but a pillar just the same. This after Netanyahu had been so outspoken before the last election calling for the dismantling of Hamastan in Gaza.

And Avigdor Lieberman, the foreign minister and head of the Yisrael Beiteinu Party, had said, upon joining the government, that one of Israel’s goals must be the end of Hamas rule in Gaza.

So what went wrong?

I think the choice of a holy name like Ahmud Anan, Pillar of a Cloud, demanded a ferocious biblical response to the years of constant rocket fire inflicted on the people of Israel.

God spoke to us from a pillar of a cloud (Tehillim 99). He appeared in a pillar of a cloud to Aaron to rebuke him for speaking badly about our teacher Moshe (Bamidbar 12:5).

The very first time we read of this pillar of a cloud, it guided the Jews as they left Egypt.

But our Pillar of a Cloud military campaign led Israel right back to Egypt because our leaders agreed that they must go to Cairo to complain about any violations of the cease-fire.

Once we dared put a Torah name to this campaign, we should have followed through to keep two rabbinically taught mitzvos. If someone comes to kill you, arise and kill him first. And when the opportunity comes to do a mitzvah, take immediate action. (We need to be quick in matzah-baking lest the matzah become chametz; Rav Osheya taught: replace the word matzah with mitzvah. Respond quickly.)

In the early stages of Pillar of a Cloud, Israel neutralized the chief of the Hamas military wing. The IAF bombed strategic sites, destroying most of the M75 long-range missiles in an initial blow. Reserve soldiers were called into action on the third day and were ready to start the ground battle – just when the Egyptian president demanded the opportunity to draw up a cease-fire agreement.

But the sudden tragic death of his sister caused him to become preoccupied with family matters, and that was our opportunity to quickly send in the troops and carry out the two above-mentioned mitzvos.

Benny Ganz, the IDF chief of staff, said his “solders are motivated, they are ready. It’ll be dangerous to leave them waiting at the border; they’re sitting ducks.”

Whose decision was it? The prime minister’s? He’s not the commander in chief. Lieberman’s? He’s only the foreign Minister. Ehud Barak is the defense minister, so it was his call, but he’s a man ready for unilateral withdrawals.

So in the first eight days of the month of Chanukah – when, for eight days and eight candles we celebrate the greatest ground battle in Jewish history, the victory of the Maccabees – we allowed ourselves to be pushed into a cease-fire that solves nothing and allows Hamas to rearm.

We doubt anyone outside of the Palestinian street really believes the stream of Hamas hyperbole that it emerged from Operation Pillar Of Defense in a better position than before. Of course, we have come to expect this sort of fantasy-based spin from much of the Arab world. Indeed, all reports prior to the cease-fire indicated that Hamas’s military capacity had been severely degraded and its ability to shoot rockets at Israel largely neutralized, at least for now. And Hamas lost some of its top military commanders.

In a sober, understated report, OC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Tal Russo said that “Hamas’s long-range rocket fire has been all but destroyed” and that “Hamas’s drone capabilities were destroyed.”

“We can measure results only after a reasonable period of time passes,” he noted. “Hamas has been badly damaged. Deterrence is in place, despite the victory cries we heard in Gaza. Israel and Hamas both know Hamas has been hit hard.”

We were initially dismayed by the text of the cease-fire agreement, which in addition to providing for the end of all hostilities also opened the door for discussions about opening the crossings between Gaza and the outside world. Did this not suggest that Hamas’s intensified rocket attacks had, in the end, succeeded moving along an issue long pursued by Hamas?

A fuller story will doubtless emerge in the coming weeks. But it already appears that Israel came out ahead of the game beyond even what Maj.General Russo indicated. The perpetuation of the Israeli-Egyptian treaty is of vital interest to both Israel and the U.S. in terms of Israel’s security needs and regional stability. And Israel’s overriding reason for the Gaza blockade is to stanch the rampant weapons smuggling from Syria and Iran.

According to news reports, the Obama administration has come to accept that any relaxation of restrictions on Gaza would require assurances that arms smuggling end. The Jerusalem Post cited comments by an unnamed senior American official who said Washington understands that stopping the smuggling is a “critical element” of the cease-fire and that the U.S. will make it a priority in its discussions with Egypt and other international players.

The same official said that both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama recognized early on that Egypt was the “only party that could influence Hamas and get them to accept certain things,” and Egyptian President Morsi seems to have delivered. But Mr. Morsi, desperate for American financial aid and wanting to please President Obama, had to deliver something to Hamas. Ergo, there will be discussions designed to ease travel restrictions but Egypt will now also be the guarantor for the cessation of weapons smuggling.

And there are other added dividends. Because of U.S. involvement, Egypt and Israel seem to be on the same side of the smuggling issue which can only enhance their interaction and strengthen prospects for the continued life of the peace treaty. (This of course will depend at least somewhat on Mr. Morsi’s surviving the current crisis in Egypt precipitated by his presidential order granting himself near dictatorial powers.)

It also seems clear that the conflict has resulted in a dramatic uptick in cooperation between Israel and the U.S. This was noted in an analytical New York Times piece last week in the aftermath of the truce agreement:

The conflict that ended, for now, in a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel seemed like the latest episode in a periodic showdown. But there was a second, strategic agenda unfolding, according to American and Israeli officials: the exchange was something of a practice run for any future armed confrontation with Iran, featuring improved rockets that can reach Jerusalem and new antimissile systems to counter them.

It is Iran, of course, that most preoccupies Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama. While disagreeing on tactics, both have made it clear that time is short, probably measured in months, to resolve the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.

And one key to their war-gaming has been cutting off Iran’s ability to slip next-generation missiles into the Gaza Strip or Lebanon, where they could be launched by Iran’s surrogates, Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, during any crisis over sanctions or an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

A Muslim imam in Gaza has issued a religious edict, or fatwa, that says it is a sin to violate the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Suleiman al-Daya issued the fatwa on Saturday night, according to Haaretz, after a top Hamas official said the terrorist organization would continue to stockpile arms although it was prohibited under the agreement brokered last week by Egypt.

“Honoring the truce, which was sponsored by our Egyptian brethren, is the duty of each and every one of us,” al-Daya said in his edict. “Violating it shall constitute a sin.”

Since the commencing of Operation ‘Pillar of Cloud’ the police have recorded many events of terrorist activities and public disturbance in Judea and Samaria, which constitute a sharp increase in terrorist activity in the region. Stones and Molotov cocktails were thrown at cars, roads were blocked and tires were burned, marches were conducted. 201 events of rioting were documented by the police during the period of the operation. 136 rioters were arrested. 18 suspects of stone throwing were released, one suspect of throwing a Molotov cocktail was released; all the rest remain in custody.

On Nov. 20^th an Israeli woman was critically wounded near the village of Hussan by rocks thrown at her car. On Nov. 22^nd shots were fired at a bus in Gush Etzion, no one was wounded in this incident.

The police have stated that they will not tolerate disturbances, and they intend to use their full authority to bring to justice anyone who chooses to disturb the peace.

Tazpit News Agency has documented the increase events as well. The following is a log of the events documented by the agency, which occurred on Monday, Nov. 19^th:

During the previous night, at the village Urif (near Yitzhar) – Police were attacked with stones, one policeman was slightly injured.

09:00 – Za’tara (near Tekoa) Dozens of Arabs rioted and blocked the road. The IDF responded with riot control measures.

11:00 – Dozens of Arabs blocked Route 443 in a protest against the Gaza operation. The rioters damaged the security fence.

11:00 – Disturbances of dozens of Arabs in Qalandiya, near Jerusalem.

11:25 – Bridge of Bir Zeit, about 200 Arabs tried to get to the Benyamin Highway, some throwing stones and burning tires. The IDF responded with riot control measures. During the public disturbances a fire bomber was identified as he prepared to throw a petrol bomb at the soldiers. They returned accurate fire. A knee injury was identified.

11:40 – Anun Junction (near Hebron) road blocked to movement of Jews due to some 100 Arabs rioting and throwing stones at IDF forces and Israeli vehicles.

13:30 – Damage caused to several Israeli vehicles due to stone throwing on Route 443.

13:50 – Furik Junction near Itamar, 200 Arabs rioting, burning tires and throwing stones. IDF troops pushed them off the road, which is used by both Arabsand Israelis.

13:55 – Road between Itamar and Elon Moreh blocked by stones. A number of Israeli vehicles were damaged, one of the cars of an Elon Moreh resident on his way to the south after receiving an emergency IDF call up.

14:00 – Dozens of Arabs rioted near the Ofer base, throwing stones and burning tires.

14:00 – About 30 Arabs blocked route 60 near Ofra, IDF forces dispersed the crowd. Stones were thrown at them.

14:00 – Nakhaliel, a number of Arabs trying to infiltrate the community. After arrival of Security forces they fled the scene, leaving PLO and Hamas flags on the fence. The security fence was damaged.

14:30 – Stone throwing at Benyamin, on the Abud bypass road. Stone-throwing continued until the night, causing damage to several Israeli vehicles.

14:30 – Riot of about 30 Arabs throwing stones at IDF forces and Israeli vehicles traveling on the Trans Benyamin road. Disturbances continued until the night, causing damage to several Israeli vehicles.

14:30 – Disturbance of approximately 50 Arabs from the village of Deir Abu Meshal in Benyamin. Stone throwing continued until dark.

15:00 – At Betilu, located near Neve Tsuf, rolling of stones and burning tires by dozens of Arabs. Road closed to Jewish traffic on and off.

16:40 – A terrorist who tried to throw a fire bomb at an IDF force near Beit Hadassah in Hebron was killed by soldiers.

16:30 – Throwing of stones at the bus in El Fower (South Hebron)

17:00 – Hebron – riots of dozens of Arabs in several locations, throwing stones, Molotov cocktails and burning tires.

18:00 – stone throwing at Husan bypass road near Betar. Several Israeli vehicles damaged.

18:00 – Throwing stones at Israeli cars and a bus at the intersection of Yitzhar.

18:30 – Highway 55 near Azzun, near Karni Shomron. Dozens of Arabs threw stones at Israeli vehicles and IDF forces while burning tires. Army responded with crowd dispersal means.

Two weeks ago I wrote this to my mother;

My assessment is that Benjamin Netanyahu is not big enough to do a proper job in Gaza. When I vote in the next elections here in January, I will vote for Avigdor Liberman, currently the Foreign Minister, the man the left wing Israeli press loves to demonize. Provided, of course, he has not been indicted for some crime or other. I know the Attorney General has been investigating him for about a dozen years, without getting anywhere, but they’re always right on ‘the verge’ of indicting him. Basically, he’s a gracious man, an émigré from the FSU, who speaks with a heavy Russian accent and doesn’t bother with the ‘speak softly – carry a big stick’ type of diplomacy we’re so used to in the west. Goes more for the Russian, ‘bellow at the survivors – after you’ve beaten the ringleaders to a bloody pulp with the howitzer,’ kind of thing.

Just goes to show what a useless assessor I am, doesn’t it? It’s clear I know nothing about him at all. All I’ve done is delude myself, once again. Listen to this quote:

“I am proud that we have a leadership that can make decisions even when they are contrary to its electoral interests,” Liberman told Channel 2 News about the decision to call a ceasefire in Gaza rather than choosing to launch a ground assault.

“It is obvious that a majority of the population was in favor of continuing the operation,” Liberman added, “but power is not only about hitting but also about holding back… This was not a strategic operation. We explicitly said that there are three goals: stopping the rocket fire, restoring deterrence and destroying Hamas’s stockpiles of long-range Fajr missiles. We achieved all those goals.” (as reported by Elad Benari for Arutz 7)

Liberman says we achieved all three goals, which makes him a liar carrying a very small gummy-bear, indeed.

a.) We didn’t stop Hamas rocket fire, Hamas stopped it.

b.) We did not restore deterrence. There never was any and there isn’t any now. Any quiet is the result of a Hamas tactical decision, not a situation imposed by the IDF.

c.) Finally, we have no clue as to the numbers or location of the long-range Fajr missiles in Hamas’s arsenal. They were still being fired as the ceasefire took effect.

What Liberman is saying is this: “I know things you don’t. The view looks very different looking out of the window in my office. I can’t explain it without revealing classified info and losing my job, so you’ll just have to trust me when I tell you that we, in the government, know what’s best for you.”

Nice. Very nice.

What happened is that by the time Mr. Liberman and his colleagues agreed on the inescapable necessity for a ground invasion, and pumped themselves up into a full blown testosterone party, they were undercut by Ehud Barak telling them that we had run out of Tamir anti-missile missiles with which to restock the Iron-Dome batteries. That, were we to invade Gaza, the exchange would turn very sanguinary for us in Israel, leaving Mr. Liberman with nothing to contribute.

In effect, we were a week late.

A week is a long time in politics, too, Mr. Liberman, as you will discover.

We who were watching the debacle unfold knew soon after the third day of hostilities that the war was lost. You missed the opportunity to invade when it presented itself; when it practically prostrated itself in front of you, begging to be taken.

Because you know things we don’t? Somehow I doubt it.

There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

(Julius Caesar Act 4, scene 3, 218–224)

The journalistic piece quoted above ends with the following: Referring to the potential impact the ceasefire may have on the elections, Liberman said: “The public knows exactly what I represent. In this case, the right decision was made, even if it is not popular and against my electoral interests.”

You can say that again, sir, with knobs on.

UPDATE: The IDF Spokesman said Friday afternoon that during the riots of some 300 Palestinians near the border fence in southern Gaza Strip, several rioters damaged the fence and tried to sneak into Israel and therefore were shot in their legs. During the confrontations, IDF forces seized an unarmed Arab crossing into Israel, and returned him to the Gaza Strip.

The Ma’an news agency reported that the Israeli forces killed Anwar Abdul Hadi Qudaih, 20, near the Israeli border in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday morning. Medics said he was hit in the head with a live bullet east of Khan Younis.

Hamas Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said 19 others were wounded by Israeli fire in the border area.

A large group of Gazans entered the Gaza-Israel buffer zone and approached too close to the security fence along the Gazan border, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Sources say that a group of Gazans approached the border, and managed to cut one of the wires or border markings near the security fence.

A relative of the killed man said that he had tried to hang a Hamas flag on the security fence, and this is why he was shot. He added that an Israeli soldier had fired into the air three times before Qudaih was hit in the head by a bullet.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri accused Israel of violating the Egypt-mediated truce and said the group would complain to Cairo. “We will contact the Egyptian mediator to discuss the incident,” he said.

At this point, residents of the south may find themselves under missile fire again, as Hamas will use their provocateurs on the border as an excuse to shoot more missiles. Hamas has said they will complain to the Egyptians about what they claim is a breach of the cease fire.

Of course, since the cease fire, Hamas has shot between 12-20 rockets into Israel, not really needing an excuse to breach the cease fire.

But this is the first incident of Israel responding to a breach on the Gazan’s part.

Since Thursday, a number of Gazan rioters have been injured after they approached the security border with Israel.

The IDF has made is very clear to Gazan residents that they are not allowed to approach the fence, and if they do so, they risk being killed.

(Editor’s Note: The famous allegoric stories of Rabba Bar Bar Chana and other of our Gedolim are enveloped in clouds of figurative speech. Undoubtedly, the great and eminent Rabba was trying to picture Israel’s trials during the long and bitter exile. The ship of Israel had sailed many a time over terribly stormy oceans and in many instances suffered shipwreck. On the other hand, Bnei Yisrael enjoyed the light of freedom in many countries. But that proved still more disastrous to them because the nation was either almost swallowed up by the fish (nations) wherein it made its abode, or at the end it drank the bitter cup of inquisition, significant in the overturn of the fish mentioned in Rabba’s proverbs.

In the following parables, Rabba pictures Bnei Yisrael’s exiled life. He could not have dared to speak openly on account of the strict censorship of the Roman government. He therefore chose the figurative manner in order to give vent to his pent-up feelings, escaping, at the same time, the shrewd eyes of the government.

The allegoric contents of these stories are ingenious. Many of our gaonim, such as the Maharsha, offer various interpretations. Take the story of when he was on a boat and saw an island. He settled on the island and lit a fire. The island turned out to be a fish, which reacted very fiercely to the fire. Had the ship not been so near, he would have drowned.

The Maharsha explains that Bnei Yisrael’s ship, traveling in the ocean of exile, reached a new land and the people thought they had finally reached salvation. They intermixed with the natives and then, lo and behold, the country (the fish) throws them over and they are driven out. Were it not for their heritage, their Torah, they would have become extinct. The reader is invited to test his intelligence and to fathom the deeper and hidden meaning of these stories, which appear in the Talmud in Baba Basra 73.)

The Tremendous Waves

Rabba Bar Bar Chana related the following, “Sailors told me that once they were threatened with gigantic waves that could have sunk their ships. These waves appeared with a ray of whitish light at their crest and when they struck it with clubs engraved with the words ‘I will be what I will be, L-rd G-d, King of Hosts, Amen, Amen, Selah,’ the waves subsided.”

Rabba Bar Bar Chana continued, “The sailors related to me that the distance between one wave and the other was 300 parasangs (a Persian mile, about 4,000 yards) and the height of each wave lifted them so high that they saw the resting place of the smallest star. There was a flash as it shot 40 arrows of iron. If it had lifted them any higher they would have been burned by its heat.

“They also heard the following conversation between two waves, ‘My friend,’ one wave called to the other, ‘have you left anything in the world that you didn’t wash away and flood? I will go and destroy it.’ The other replied, ‘Go and see the power of the Master by whose command I must not pass the sand of the shore even as much as the breadth of a thread. It is this sand line that separates the sea from the land and yet I could not step over it.’

Rabba Bar Bar Chana went on, “I saw an antelope, one-day-old, that was as big as Mount Rabor, which measures four parasangs. The length of its neck was three parasangs and the resting place of its head was one parasang and a half.

“I saw a frog the size of the Fort of Hagronia (a fortified town in Babylon) that contained 60 houses. A snake came along and swallowed the frog and then a large raven came and swallowed the snake. The raven then ascended the tree and perched on one of its limbs. Imagine the strength of that tree.”

Rabbi Papa ben Samuel said, “Had I not been there I would not have believed it,” and added, “Once, while we were traveling on board a ship I saw a gigantic fish in whose gills I saw a parasite, the mudeater worm. It entered and killed the fish. Thereupon the sea cast up the fish and threw it upon the shore. Sixty towns were destroyed thereby and 60 coast towns consumed its flesh and 60 other coast towns salted the flesh that was left for future use. From one of its eyeballs 300 kegs of oil were filled. On returning there after 12 months, I saw its bones being sawed into boards as to restore the streets that were destroyed by it.”

Gotta’ love the following Ma’an Palestinian news agency report:

One Citizen Dies and 3 wounded by Gunfire Celebrating the Victory of the Resistance

Gaza – Ma’an – A citizen died and 3 others were wounded in shooting in the air to celebrate the victory of the resistance.

A government spokesman for the Ministry of Health Ma’an about the death of a citizen and the wounding of 3 others in Dar Al Shifa, by Gunfire celebrating the victory of the resistance.

The ministry appealed to citizens not to fire in the air.

And I say – go ahead, fire in the air, you’ve earned it.